Disappointed, I exhaled and stepped away from the crowd before returning to the same bench. It was strange that none of the girls had actually come outside to greet the Queen. Most of them stayed near the windows instead. Maybe they were angry. Maybe they blamed the guards. Maybe they blamed the Queen herself for failing to keep them safe.

A minute later, Ken pushed his way free from the crowd and dropped onto the bench beside me.

"Gods," he said with a breathless laugh. "What a mess."

"Yeah. I had to talk to her, though. ASAP."

He leaned back against the bench. "Huh, why?"

"I suspect Mr. Marble might have something to do with Jelda’s death."

Ken nearly choked. "What!?"

"Ssh," I hissed immediately. "Lower your voice."

He stared at me like I had completely lost my mind.

"No way," he whispered. "No fucking way, Ace."

"I know how it sounds," I replied. "But I need answers. I need to ask the Queen some questions about him."

"The headmaster is literally her brother," Ken said. "Even if, and this is a huge if, he is involved somehow, the whole thing would get buried immediately."

I looked down at the stone street for a moment before speaking.

"Then this world really is not different from mine."

Ken frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

In every world, the strong decided what truth looked like. Power did not merely win battles; it erased consequences before they could exist. Nobles, rulers, wealthy men, generals... it never changed, no matter the country or age. They buried evidence, silenced witnesses, ruined lives, and walked away untouched because no one powerful enough ever stood against them.

Ken stayed silent while listening.

"When weak people suffer," I continued, "everyone says it is tragic. Everyone shakes their heads and acts sad for a few days. But when powerful people are involved, suddenly everyone becomes careful with their words."

I let out a dry laugh.

"A girl gets fucking butchered in her own room, and half the district is already too scared to ask questions because of who might get offended."

"Wait... half the district? Does everyone know about Mr. Marble?"

"No. But let’s say they did. Do you think they’d be brave enough to question him?"

He didn’t answer. He just leaned back and crossed his arms.

We stayed there in silence for nearly ten minutes. Then the Queen finally appeared at the entrance of the girls’ dormitory. She looked... irritated, though still composed.

This was my only chance. Before she returned to the Royal Palace, I had to speak with her.

I quickly stood and pushed my way through the crowd of students. By the time I reached the front, I noticed Sora whispering something into the Queen’s ear.

Mia nodded. "Bring him."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Sora’s eyes met mine. Then she walked over to one of the guards and whispered something to him. The guard nodded before motioning for me to step closer.

"Tell no one," the guard said quietly. "A carriage will be waiting for you by the river near the northern gate."

"What?"

The guard said nothing more.

I looked toward Sora, but she only gave me a small nod before climbing into the royal carriage after Mia.

So... I was actually going to meet the Queen?

Sora must have said something about me, and somehow the Queen agreed to arrange a meeting. But what exactly had she told her?

’Yo, Your Majesty, he suspects Mr. Marble had something to do with Jelda’s murder. FYI lol.’

No. No, hopefully not.

The carriage rolled away as the crowd slowly began to disperse.

"Hm..." I muttered. "The river near the northern gate... They’re either going to kill me there, or... something even worse."

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

I spotted the carriage waiting beside the river on the dirt road just beyond the northern gate. Behind me, the city walls still loomed over the district, and even from this distance I could hear the muffled noise of people talking inside the city. The news of Jelda’s death had spread everywhere by now. Nobody was sleeping easy tonight.

I walked toward the carriage slowly, glancing around the area. There was no coachman waiting outside, no guards nearby, and not even another horse tied to the side. The entire thing looked abandoned.

"What the hell..." I muttered.

The carriage itself looked expensive enough to buy half the district. Dark polished wood reflected the moonlight, silver trimming lined the edges, and the royal crest was carved into the door in ridiculous detail. The horses attached to it stood unnaturally still, almost like statues.

I stopped beside it and frowned. "Hello?"

"Get in, kiddo," a man’s voice called from inside the carriage.

I blinked in confusion, then stepped closer and opened the door.

An old man sat inside with one leg crossed over the other while reading a thick book. A pipe rested between his lips, thin smoke curling lazily around his hooded face. His robe was completely black from head to toe, and his beard was long enough to reach the middle of his chest. Silver strands mixed through it like threads of metal.

The man did not even glance up from his book.

"You coming in or planning to stare all night?" he asked.

I hesitated for a second before climbing inside anyway. The carriage smelled faintly of smoke and old paper. Once I shut the door behind me, the old man casually snapped his fingers.

I waited.

Nothing happened.

The old man slowly lowered his book and looked at me like I was stupid.

"Huh?" he said. "What are you waiting for, kid? Shoo, shoo."

I stared at him. "Wait. I thought you were—"

"Shoo!" he barked while waving his hand aggressively. "Out. Go on."

"Okay, okay."

Completely confused, I opened the carriage door again and stepped outside.

Then my stomach twisted so violently that my knees nearly buckled. The river was gone. The dirt road was gone. The city walls were gone.

I was standing in the front courtyard of the Royal Palace.

My eyes widened as nausea punched me straight in the gut. "Oh, fuck..."

I doubled over and vomited directly into a patch of beautiful roses that palace maids had probably spent years taking care of.

The taste of bile burned my throat. My entire body felt wrong, like my organs had been rearranged by force.

"Oh, fuuuck..."

I vomited again.

Behind me, the carriage door opened and the old man stepped out casually as if nothing strange had happened.

"You’re lucky, kiddo," he said while puffing on his pipe. "First time I used teleportation, I shat myself. You only puked."

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and leaned against the carriage. "Did we just..."

"Your last name wouldn’t happen to be Mill, right?" he interrupted.

"What?"

"Mill," he repeated. "I knocked up a hooker once. Thought maybe you were my son."

I stared at him in horror.

"What?"

"She got pregnant and I ran off before the baby popped out." He shrugged casually. "Can’t remember what happened after that."

My stomach lurched again.

"You..." I gagged. "You what?"

"What about Jolda?" he continued thoughtfully while rubbing his beard. "I knocked up her twin too."

"How do they even have different surnames?" I asked weakly while trying not to throw up again.

The old man froze.

Then he rubbed the back of his head slowly.

"Oh," he muttered. "Wait. Yeah. They were twins."

He stared at the sky for several long seconds.

"Uugh... my fucking stomach..."

"Why did they have different surnames?"

I gagged violently and bent over again.

The old man continued thinking seriously while I suffered in front of him.

"My fucking god," I muttered between coughs. "You are an actual idiot."

"Anyway," he said with a shrug. "The Queen is waiting for you."

I forced myself upright while breathing through my nose. "The Queen... teleports too?"

"I think her sister got married and took the husband’s name," the old man said confidently. "That’s probably why the surnames were different."

I stared at him in disbelief.

Then I vomited again.

"Oh, no, wait." He snapped his fingers. "Her husband died, though."

I slowly looked up at him.

"No," he corrected himself immediately. "Actually, her husband was her brother. That was it. I remember joking about it once."

"ARE YOU A FUCKING IDIOT?" I yelled finally. "THEN HER SURNAME WOULD STILL BE THE SAME!"

The old man blinked at me.

Then he pointed his pipe at my face. "You know, you’re pretty rude for a kid."

I grabbed my knees and tried not to collapse.

"Oh," he said suddenly. "Right. Teleportation. Yeah, the Queen can teleport sometimes."

"So everyone can just—"

"No," he interrupted. "The palace has restrictions. Most people can’t teleport directly here because the guards would notice instantly. There’s a whole protection system connected to the palace barriers."

That made me pause despite the nausea.

"A barrier system?"

"Mm." He nodded. "Fancy magical stuff. Lots of crystals. Lots of runes. Expensive nonsense."

I slowly straightened.

That sounded dangerously close to what Mr. Marble had described.

The old man continued puffing on his pipe like he had not just casually confirmed one of my theories.

"Look," I said tiredly. "Can you just tell me where I’m supposed to go?"

"Oh, right." He pointed toward the palace entrance. "Follow me."

The man started walking up the marble stairs without waiting for me. I looked back once at the carriage.

The horses still stood completely still. Not breathing. Not moving.

Almost like they were never alive to begin with. A shiver crawled up my spine.

Then I followed the old lunatic into the Royal Palace.

The old man led me through the palace courtyard while I tried to settle my stomach. The marble path glistened from the earlier rain, and the trimmed hedges along the way smelled fresh enough to almost cover the lingering taste of vomit in my mouth. Almost.

Two royal guards stood at the entrance of the palace with halberds in hand, their silver armor polished so clean that the torchlight reflected off it.

The moment I approached, one of them stepped in front of me and raised a hand.

"Arms out."